


the hoodie pact

by johnshuaa



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cuddling & Snuggling, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Fluff, Long-Distance Relationship, M/M, OT3, Polyamory, a rock plays the main character, soft boyfriends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-07
Updated: 2020-12-07
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:34:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27756205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/johnshuaa/pseuds/johnshuaa
Summary: Donghyuck and Yangyang wait. They wait a while. They don't stop waiting until Sungchan finally returns home.
Relationships: Jung Sungchan/Lee Donghyuck | Haechan, Jung Sungchan/Liu Yang Yang, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Liu Yang Yang, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Liu Yang Yang/Jung Sungchan
Comments: 25
Kudos: 227





	the hoodie pact

**Author's Note:**

> No reason, just a major obsession over yang2chan one night fueled by the fact that I wanted it to be a thing.
> 
> here's a song to listen to while you read: [coming home by nct u](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57sYinArEC4)
> 
> working title: in which Tall boyfriend does everything at the bidding of Small boyfriends

“You should send something.”

A deep, hearty laugh. Donghyuck misses what that sound feels like against his ear, reverberating through Sungchan’s chest when they cuddle.

“ _I can try, but I don’t know what’s around here to even send_.”

Donghyuck pouts as he presses the phone closer to his ear. He’s already running late, but he couldn’t stop an incoming call from his boyfriend on the other side of the world, one that he hasn’t had the chance to properly talk to in a week and a half. “You make it sound like you’re on a rural farm in the middle of the woods.”

“ _I practically am. Hm… There’s some very rich soil outside. A rock, perhaps?_ ”

“That would make the shipping cost hell.” Donghyuck tries his best to butter his toast and fry an egg at the same time, all while squeezing his shoulder as tight to the side of his head as he can to keep the slick phone from falling into his pan. He speaks from experience.

“ _There’s literally nothing else I can bring you unless I visit town sometime. We don’t get the chance to go out there very often, unfortunately..._ ”

Donghyuck sighs. “I still don’t understand what you do at your job.”

“ _We’ve been dating since before I even started this job, what do you_ mean _you don’t get what I do?_ ” His tone is joking, mischievous, and though that’s mainly Donghyuck’s trait to cover, he likes this. He wishes he can see the boxy smile that pairs with Sungchan’s words, though.

Donghyuck plates his food quickly but refrains from eating it just yet. Instead, he idly wanders around the apartment, double-checking everything he needs before he heads off to work. “Well, I only have one request that you must complete before your noble return.”

“ _Yes, your majesty, what is it that you would like your best, most loyal knight to do_?”

Donghyuck smiles to himself. He’s in the living room, finally with free hands, one keeping the phone by his ear, the other running over the soft fabric of a navy blue hoodie with the bright yellow, clunky embroidery of the university Sungchan had been working at previously. It’s been quite a while since this one was sent. One of the first few that Donghyuck had received, from almost a year ago. It’s a little patchy on the inside where it was originally lined with high-quality fleece, worn down by the number of times he’s had to wash it due to constant wear, but it’s one of Donghyuck’s favorites.

“A hoodie,” Donghyuck states, a bit quieter. A sudden, sentimental feeling rushes through him. His finger picks at the embroidery, tugging on a stray thread. Focusing on the details of the jacket helps him forget that it’s from thousands of miles away, where Sungchan always seems to be. “As always.”

Sungchan must have noticed the change in Donghyuck’s mood, because he quiets down too. “ _I’ll try my absolute best_.”

He sounds exhausted. Donghyuck wishes he can see his face, not just guess by his voice. It is rather late where he is, Donghyuck understands that. He just wishes that he can quell the irrational longing that tugs at the pit of his stomach. 

Nothing is wrong. It’s just the distance.

“Don’t worry if you can’t,” Donghyuck mentions off-handedly, even though he knows that Sungchan will do anything in his power to find a special hoodie for his current location abroad to send home just because Donghyuck mentioned it. “A rock will do, as long as you sign it. And kiss it.”

“ _Kiss it_?”

“I’m sure you can find some lipstick to prove that you kissed it, too.” Donghyuck spares one last glance at the jacket under his palm, before he spins on his heel, back to the kitchen to grab his breakfast. 

“ _If that’s really what you want_ …”

It’s not, obviously. The underlying _you, I want you to come home_ is always there behind every conversation. 

“It’ll be enough.” Donghyuck tries to lighten the mood by biting into his toast, the crunch filling the silence. “I have to get going, now.”

“ _Oh. Okay. I’ll talk to you soon, then?_ ”

“Of course.” Donghyuck grabs his keys and wallet, tucking them into his pocket. He shoves the rest of his meal into his mouth as he slides on his shoes the best he can with his toes to help. “I love you.”

A pause. Donghyuck stops, too.

“ _Love you too._ ”

Donghyuck smiles at that. He waits for Sungchan to hang up first, a routine that’s been part of their relationship for what seems like forever now. Sungchan takes an extra beat to end the call, and some part of Donghyuck thinks he was hesitating, wanting to say something but not being able to. It’s a baseless thought that Donghyuck tucks away.

He heads off to work like he would any other day.

  
  


The apartment is not usually too quiet unless there’s only one person around. When the three of them are all home, there is hardly a moment of silence unless they are all asleep. It’s a rather noisy place, most days. It has grown quieter in recent months.

When Donghyuck returns home after another boring day at the office, he hears boisterous laughter, a little muffled because the door is closed. He takes his time to put everything away, even detouring to the kitchen to grab himself a Yakult drink to get some sugar into his system, before he pads quietly to the bedroom.

The door is slightly ajar, and Donghyuck pushes it open the rest of the way. 

Yangyang is leaning against the headboard of the bed, facing the doorway. His laptop is propped on his bent legs, screen pushed up in a way that covers most of his face from where Donghyuck is standing. When he hears Donghyuck enter, his eyes light up where they peek over the top of the computer. 

“Guess who’s here?” Yangyang says excitedly to the computer, then peeking up to wink at Donghyuck.

Donghyuck doesn’t hear the response, too busy changing out of his work clothes into something comfortable enough to lounge in. Long pajama pants and another maroon hoodie, a small, circular logo printed at the breast. This one isn’t very well designed, the color of the fabric clashing with the logo colors. However, it’s Donghyuck’s current favorite. It still smells vaguely like Sungchan.

Donghyuck crawls onto the bed and tucks his head on Yangyang’s belly, nose against his thigh. He’s very, very warm and very, very nice to snuggle against considering the cold Donghyuck had to bear while getting home today. He pulls his legs in to curl into a ball, knees near Yangyang’s feet.

There’s the constant hum of the laptop running with Yangyang’s giggles. He has his Bluetooth headphones in, so Donghyuck revels in the quieter ambiance of their room. He can probably fall asleep like this, head in the comfort of Yangyang’s embrace, whose hand pats Donghyuck’s head, playing with his hair and tugging on his ear. 

And Donghyuck does. The warmth draws him into a deep nap, and to his surprise, when he wakes up, he’s in almost the same position he fell asleep in. However, instead of his head against Yangyang’s stomach, he’s leaning against Yangyang’s chest, sitting between his legs. The laptop was moved to the side, and Yangyang’s arms are now wrapped around Donghyuck’s shoulders, his head leaning against the crook of Donghyuck’s neck. His hair tickles whenever he fidgets.

Donghyuck yawns. He draws his legs in on instinct so he can fit better in Yangyang’s embrace. “How long was I out?”

“About an hour,” Yangyang replies. “How are you feeling?”

“Tired enough to order takeout instead of cooking.”

“Yessir. We can get food from that sushi place down the street.”

Donghyuck is a little groggy, and he blinks a few times when he hears Yangyang laughing amidst the silence. As if on cue, Yangyang wedges one of his headphones into Donghyuck’s ear. 

“ _This isn’t fair,_ ” is the first thing Donghyuck hears Sungchan whine. “ _I_ _miss eating there_.”

Yangyang sticks out his tongue to the computer. “That’s why I suggested it.”

Sungchan pouts.

Donghyuck loses track of the days, sometimes, too caught up with work and school and _life_. Not that Sungchan isn’t an important part of the last component, but sometimes, not having him here physically means he gets pushed to another corner of Donghyuck’s mess of a mind until something reminds him again. It’s been more than a week since he’s talked to Sungchan last, even longer since he’s video-called. Thirteen days, to be precise. Donghyuck doesn’t find shame in counting subconsciously.

He feels like he’s forgetting Sungchan, though it’s impossible to do so.

Donghyuck pastes on a sleepy smile before that thought drags him down for the rest of the night.

They talk for a while. They take turns explaining what has been going on over the past few weeks in their own lives. Sungchan talks about the latest excavation he went on, what he found, about how the dust is still stuck under his nails and he can’t scrub it out. Yangyang describes the frustration of his classes, about how annoying his group mates are, but also about his fascinations with his recent project itself. 

There’s a passion that they both have that can’t be dulled, whether it be by tiredness or a screen of a laptop— the latter close to shutting down considering how loud the fan has become to keep the computer from getting too hot through the several-hour call. 

“ _I have a surprise for you two, by the way_.” Sungchan shuffles around in the dark as he resettles at his desk. He turns on his lamp, illuminating his face in a faint yellow light.

“I like surprises,” Yangyang says. “But I like it more if you tell us what it is.”

“ _Doesn’t that defeat the whole point of a surprise?_ ”

“Yes, but also no. It depends. What do you want to hear for you to spill your secrets?” Yangyang turns his head on Donghyuck’s neck, cheek against Donghyuck’s shoulder instead. He can tell that Yangyang is putting on a cheeky smile in hopes of winning Sungchan over.

“ _Nope, it’s a surprise._ ”

“Boo. I want to know.”

Sungchan’s expression softens when Donghyuck grabs onto Yangyang’s hands, crossed around Donghyuck’s neck. He hangs off of Donghyuck’s body like a cape, or an excited monkey. Donghyuck laces one of their hands together. Ideally, in front of him, instead of a screen, is Sungchan himself, legs tangled with Donghyuck’s, hands on his waist, pulling him closer.

 _Like a sandwich_ , Yangyang would comment, grabbing onto Sungchan so they can squish Donghyuck in the middle. _Can’t remove the bread from their filling_.

Oh, the world he would give for that to be the reality he lives in now.

“ _You’ll like it, don’t worry. Donghyuck asked for it_.”

Donghyuck rolls his eyes knowing Yangyang pulled an incredulous expression in response to that. “Okay,” Yangyang singsongs. “I’m trusting you two on that.”

Donghyuck brings their interlaced hands to his lips and presses a kiss to the back of Yangyang’s palm. He lingers there for a moment. There’s something missing that he easily places, knows exactly what it is, and how it should be fitting.

  
  


The surprise arrives a week later in a rather large and heavy box.

The two of them stare at the package in wonder, at the rectangular white sticker surrounded by dark scribbles and doodles all across the rest of the cardboard, a jumbled mess that doesn’t make sense to the common eye but gives Donghyuck a nice, warm feeling in his chest. 

Yangyang returns with a pair of scissors as Donghyuck sits down on the carpet of the living room, the box in front of him. Yangyang joins him on the floor.

Of course, this isn’t the first time they’ve received a package like this. Sungchan sends one for every new place he moves to. If Donghyuck is honest, fifty percent of his closet is just folded hoodies that he cycles through wearing. Unfortunately, he can’t wear them to work, but any other time, when he’s at home, when he’s going out for a quick errand, those oversized jackets are perfect. They’re soft (mostly), long (because Sungchan is too tall for his own good), and reminds him that this isn’t forever, the distance. That these sweaters make it home, and so will he.

Yangyang glides the blade through the tape smoothly. He’s been in charge of that part of the unboxing process for a while now.

It’s like opening gifts on Christmas morning. There was one time when they _did_ leave one of these for Christmas morning because Sungchan’s flight got delayed to another day. It had started rather somber, that day, when they were supposed to pick him up from the airport just a few hours prior, only to hear the news that the weather was too harsh for him to leave. Devastating, for a bit, before they got the package, the box with its unique scribbles arriving at their door.

Donghyuck pulls open the cardboard tabs. The first item on top is a letter, as always, decorated with more of Sungchan’s doodles.

“What is that even supposed to be?” Yangyang asks, pointing at the rounded curls at the corner of the envelope.

“A sheep? Goat?” Donghyuck narrows his eyes at it. For someone whose job is to literally sketch the things he digs up, this sure isn’t legible. But that’s what makes it all the more endearing. “I think he’s trying to draw you.”

Yangyang points at the darker dots in the middle of the circle, and the triangle-shaped horns. Then, he bursts into a wide smile, one that Donghyuck gets to look at every day and remember why he fell in love with the boy sitting next to him. “Okay, I can see the resemblance… Maybe.”

There’s also a haphazardly drawn deer on the other edge, next to a bear sitting on the corner of the envelope like it’s a chair, all scribbled on with a thick sharpie marker. As Yangyang takes the contents from inside, Donghyuck holds onto the envelope, absentmindedly tracing the drawings with a finger.

Yangyang shows Donghyuck the polaroid first. Sungchan is holding up a peace sign, as he always is, and his background is blurry. Most of these selfies are a hit or miss when it comes to showing off where he’s working, but Donghyuck gives him credit for his dedication to hauling that beat up polaroid camera with him everywhere. On the white space at the bottom, in all caps, the date and country he’s in.

Then, the letter. It’s short and sweet, cheesy things that always make the pit of Donghyuck’s stomach fill with fidgety butterflies. He reads it through twice after Yangyang reads it out loud the first time.

At the end, it’s signed off with, _there’s something you might really like in here. love you,_ and his smiley-faced signature. 

“Oh, wow. This is actually quite nice.”

Yangyang takes out the first hoodie, pinching it by the shoulders and holding it against his chest. It’s dark green with a white emblem across the front. The bottom hem is loose so that it doesn’t scrunch at the hips where it normally would. When Yangyang tosses it on over his shirt, the front falls to his mid-thigh, the sleeves extending far past his fingertips. Donghyuck giggles at the sight.

“I don’t think I remember what normal-sized sweatshirts fit like anymore,” Yangyang says, spinning around and letting the long fabric flutter around him. 

Donghyuck moves to sit on his knees, grabbing one of the sleeves where Yangyang’s hand normally would be. Yangyang pulls back, before he’s launching into another spin towards their linked arms, like they’re waltzing, and collapses into Donghyuck’s embrace. Another fit of laughter fills the rather empty apartment. 

“Your turn,” Yangyang states as he settles in Donghyuck’s lap. Donghyuck reaches around him blindly to grab the other sweatshirt.

Sungchan must somehow keep track of all the jackets he’s sent them. Every single one is different, in style, in design type, in color. Sometimes, they’re wearable pieces that Donghyuck wouldn’t mind tossing over his outfit most days. Sometimes, they’re absurd and more fit for an ugly Christmas sweater competition. This time, it fits the latter. It’s a bright mustard yellow: the front blank, the back with a crooked, hastily embroidered bee (at least he assumes it to be a bee…)

“Oh my god, what _is_ this…” Donghyuck holds the hoodie up and stares at the spare threads hanging from what looks like a badly thought out, hand-sewn design.

“Put it on!”

“No!”

“Nuh-uh, you’re wearing it!” Yangyang grabs the sweatshirt from him and adjusts himself so he’s sitting on Donghyuck’s legs, keeping him from moving. Eventually, he manages to slide the garment over Donghyuck. Backwards.

“I look stupid,” Donghyuck says into the hood, ready to pull that part over his face.

“Obviously.” Yangyang grabs onto each side of Donghyuck’s face with his sweater paws and presses a kiss to his nose. Before Donghyuck can pull him closer for a proper kiss, Yangyang throws the hood over his face.

Donghyuck doesn’t even get the chance to complain when Yangyang’s attention turns back to the box. He crawls over to the package. Donghyuck pulls the hood off his face.

Yangyang procures a rock in his hands, jagged, the size of his face.

“Why’d he send a rock?”

Donghyuck can’t quite believe his eyes. He takes the tone and turns it across his hands. There’s a signature, on one side. Then he finds it. The bright red, kiss shaped print on the smooth side. It’s a little sloppy and crooked.

“Oh my god, is this the surprise?” Yangyang says giddily. 

“Yeah, I asked him for this. Didn’t think he’d actually do it.”

“Maybe that’s why he gave you that ugly sweatshirt.” Yangyang studies the rock a bit more. “Do you think he stole it from one of the worksites?”

“That sounds illegal.” Donghyuck smiles. “He probably did.”

They put the rock on the shelf alongside the other trinkets Sungchan has sent back, from gift shop keychains to sketches of the sunset to crinkled plastic bottles labeled “AIR FROM ____.” Donghyuck makes sure the red lip mark is on full display, before the two of them head off to the bedroom to retire for the night. 

Donghyuck switches the sweatshirt around so he’s wearing it properly. Yangyang doesn’t take his off. They both know it still smells vaguely of Sungchan, an ocean away.

The sweatshirts are how they travel with Sungchan. It’s like they can follow him around the world while remaining home. One day, Donghyuck hopes they can go with him, because sometimes, the stationary, physical location of home just doesn’t live up to its namesake. He wants them to be home, and that just happens to be a couple of thousand miles away that Donghyuck hopes they can cross in the near future.

  
  


Yangyang knows the airport like the back of his hand at this point. He knows where each lane brings them, how to get to each airline’s drop off, where to park so they don’t have to pay an arm and leg while waiting for pick up.

Donghyuck says he can probably work as one of those shuttle drivers here if school goes badly for him. Yangyang only sticks his tongue out at him and says that higher education may be a scam, but the degree will get him at least somewhere in the field he wants.

The first few times, there were balloons, big sparkly posters made from materials found at the dollar store, a giant teddy bear, once, that took up the entire backseat of the car. They’ve outgrown that. Those big gestures don’t bring the same joy as they used to do. 

Donghyuck and Yangyang venture through the terminal hand in hand, Yangyang guiding them through the crowds to get to the arrival area.

They settle at the barrier. Donghyuck looks at the screen above the opening with the airline logo painted on the wall. He scans down the digital timetable until he pinpoints Sungchan’s flight. It’s right on time. Now, it’s a matter of how long it’ll take for him to find his luggage.

(From experience, it takes more time than it should, really.)

Yangyang pulls on the sleeves of the dark green sweatshirt, sinking into the neckline to fight the cold. Donghyuck wraps an arm around his waist.

When they spot Sungchan, rolling his two large suitcases alongside him, a travel pillow around his neck, they move around to where the barrier opens up, further away from the flow of the crowd.

Sungchan lets the suitcases roll on their own accord in favor of opening his arms wide, smiling widely. Donghyuck thinks he might cry. 

Instead, he tucks himself under one of Sungchan’s arms, pressing his forehead into the taller’s shoulder, nose in the thick fabric of his own, black sweatshirt, the one from Yangyang’s university. If he gets snot on it, so be it. Donghyuck wraps his arms around Sungchan’s waist and holds him as tight as he can. The yellow of his bee sweatshirt clashes rather badly with Yangyang’s green and Sungchan’s black, and they probably look stupid to the general public, but he could hardly care.

“Can you not leave for so long at a time, please?” he hears Yangyang say. One of his arms had moved to circle Donghyuck’s back. The comfort of having both of his boyfriends’ arms draped around him is beyond anything Donghyuck can imagine. He can pretend all he wants that waiting for Sungchan to come home is just part of the process for his return, that the waiting should make him happy, knowing that he’ll be back soon. However, nothing beats having the actual warmth of him there, physical, not a mirage. Donghyuck nuzzles his face deeper into Sungchan’s embrace.

“Well, good news for you then—” Sungchan’s chin falls on top of Donghyuck’s, the arm over his shoulder rubbing circles into Donghyuck’s back. “They’re letting me work in archives at their home headquarters for a bit while they plan out the next project.”

“The home headquarters is… Oh my god.” Yangyang starts to jump in their big, jumbled hug. “You’re going to stay home? For how long?”

“I don’t really know.” Sungchan’s words are muffled as he presses a kiss to the top of Donghyuck’s head. He really thinks he’s going to start bawling in the middle of an airport pick up at 6 am on a Tuesday, now. “A couple months?”

Donghyuck bends back to look up at Sungchan through blurred vision. “You better not be messing with us right now,” he says with a sniffle.

Sungchan blinks blankly at him for a second. “Why would I?”

Donghyuck whines and knocks his forehead into Sungchan’s shoulder. He hears Yangyang laugh. “I don’t know, I’m miserably overwhelmed with happiness right now.”

“He’s here, Hyuckie, don’t worry.” Yangyang kisses Donghyuck’s temple. It makes Donghyuck’s face burn red, but in a nice way. A schoolboy crush, all over again, though he has two boyfriends in his arms that he loves to the edge of the world and beyond. It’s just nice to hear the reassurance, a confirmation that truly, this is real. Sungchan is coming home.

Eventually, Donghyuck pulls away from the embrace so they can start walking and not block the little corner next to the arrival path. Donghyuck refuses to let go of Sungchan, but he thinks that’s justified. The last time they had been together in person was too many months ago. Yangyang is also attached to him at the hip, and Sungchan struggles to push his luggage around. He has long limbs. He can deal with it.

When they get home, the apartment is louder. There’s Yangyang’s excited yelling, Sungchan stumbling around to get his bags from falling, and Donghyuck laughing at the two. It’s like what Donghyuck is used to, like it should be all the time. He’s glad that it’s all back.

**Author's Note:**

> find me on  
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/johnshuaa)  
> [curious cat](https://curiouscat.me/johnshuaa)


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